Becoming a Christian in Fiji: an ethnographic study of ontogeny

• Published in: The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute Vol. 10; no. 1; pp. 221 - 240
• Main Author: Toren, Christina
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01-03-2004
• Subjects: Anthropology; Ceremonies; Child development; Children; Christianity; Christians; Death; Development; Ethnographic research; Fiji; Ontogeny; Ritual; Social relations
• ISSN: 1359-0987
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9655.2004.00187.x

By means of an ethnographic and development analysis, this article shows how everyday ritual practice is fundamental to people's constitution over time of ideas that, in this case, inform a specifically Fijian Christianity. Focusing on the development process that is the fixation of belief, and on the significance of ritual for this process, it explores transformations in ideas about God, Sunday school, and death ceremonies held by Sawaieke girls and boys between 7 years, 10 months and 13 years old. The broader objective is to demonstrate, first, how data obtained systematically from children can illuminate our understanding of ritual and its significance, and, secondly, how an analysis of the developmental process necessarily entails a concomitant analysis of the social relations that inform it. Reprinted by permission of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland